Connected Darkness
by Lady Keruri
Summary: Sort of a KH III, if you will. This story will be completely canon! Some pairings, lots of action, etc. Pairings include Sora/Kairi, Roxas/Namine.
1. Chapter 1

**Trying something new! **

**I hope you guys enjoy this story, because I'm only going chapter by chapter--even I don't know what's going to happen!**

**This IS a canon fic, meaning NO yaoi (/cry). **

**However, there is some cute fluffies and awesome fights. This is... sort of a Kingdom Hearts III type deal.**

**Have fun reading!**

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Kairi smiled softly from her spot on the shore, far away from where the boys stared at the sunset on their crooked tree. They both seemed so... peaceful, at last.

Riku's long, silver hair danced in his eyes that flicked from the sunset to Sora every so often with curiosity. His lean frame was casually set, and there was a certain tension in the boy's shoulders that Kairi never used to see there before...

And Sora...

He was... just the way Kairi remembered. Arms crossed behind that mess of hair, an open, carefree, starstruck expression in his face, body leaned back in a way that screamed of his innocence and sense of adventure. His wide eyes were open, revealing their cerulean depths; they were bright and they were dark, full of wonder and joy and sadness and... she didn't know how many other emotions.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when something collided gently with her foot. She looked down to see a small bottle with a tiny scroll rolled up inside. For a split second, she thought that it might have been a letter Sora could have written back to her. She smirked and shook her head.

_Silly. _

She picked up the glass container and peered through to see the familiar seal of the King enscribed on it.

The first feeling that flooded her was fear. A split second later, a strange, exciting thrill ran through her veins. This letter... it could mean another adventure, another reason for Sora and Riku to leave her, or a reason for her to argue her way into getting to go with them and fight for herself for once...!

She dashed as quickly as her feet could carry her up the sloping sands and held the bottle out to the young brunette.

Sora nearly snatched it away from her in urgent excitement, and quickly popped the cork and read the letter, eyes darting back and forth between the lines of King Mickey's neat handwriting.

After a full minute of sparking silence, Riku's fingers twitched towards the letter impatiently.

"Well, what does it say?" asked the older teen irritably. Sora rolled the letter back up.

"Nothing... just thanking us and telling us 'not to get into trouble', whatever that means..." Sora said, and Kairi noticed with slight amusement that his frame drooped slightly when he discovered that he was cheated out of another adventure.

Key Bearer or not, Sora was still just a little kid inside.

"Aww...don't fret, guys! I'm sure the worlds'll need us again, right?" Kairi said reassuringly, but at the same time, she didn't know whether she should have been hoping for another adventure or hoping that Sora never had to use his famous 'blade again.

Riku smirked.

"Kairi, you just wanna get out there and fight like us big boys, don't you?" He asked smugly.

Kairi's indigo eyes flashed dangerously. "What, are you sexist now, Ri-ku? I can fight!"

The silverette held up his palms in defense. "No, not sexist. It just seems like me'n' Sora do all the fighting, ne?"

Kairi huffed.

"Aww, Riku, it's not her fault... besides, she tried to fight every chance she got, didn't she? It just so happens that she's in the wrong places in the wrong times, I guess..." at the end of his sentence, Sora got a bit quieter and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Kairi's features softened, though she still looked annoyed.

The three of them stopped talking when the sun suddenly dipped below the horizon, dousing the island in sudden calming darkness.

The water glittered for a moment and then stayed still, silent. Kairi's hand sought out Sora's automatically, but it was different, somehow, than before Sora had gone to become the Key Bearer. She blessed the darkness, because she could feel her face grow suddenly warm.

Sora's hand twitched for a moment, and she felt the strain in his fingers through his overly elaborate gloves before he suddenly tightened his grip reassuringly, glancing her way subtly.

But Kairi was not completely absorbed in the exchange; she noticed that the silverette's mouth twisted into the tiniest smirk.

_This... right here, this... is what I've always wanted, _she thought serenely, and they didn't move from their crooked little tree until far into the evening.

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"Sora...?"

Sora's gentle snores were all that greeted him.

"Hey... Sora, get up, I need to talk to you..."

Riku's mouth set itself into an annoyed scowl. He jabbed his friend hard enough to knock him off of his bed.

"Wha'--!" Sora promptly let out a rush of air from his lungs and groaned softly. "What the heck, Riku?"

Riku extended his hand to help Sora up and through his window.

"What do you... wha-wha-want?" Sora said through a yawn, the words becoming staggered.

"Sora... I--I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," Riku said, putting his hands on his friend's shoulders and looking him straight in the face.

Sora blinked away his tiredness.

"What? What are you sorry for?"

Riku removed his hands from Sora's shoulders. "What do you mean, 'what am I sorry for?' You know..." The older boy waved a hand vaguely. "Darkness... I betrayed you...?"

The look of confusion on Sora's face took a bit longer than usual to go away, due to the late hour. Then the look turned reproachful. "Riku... come on... "

Riku shook his head. "No, Sora, listen. I was wrong. I need to apologize. Please."

The simplicity of these words, paired with the whispered urgency, was what caught Sora's attention. Riku's head was tilted downwards, and Sora placed a hand on the young man's forearms.

"Listen, Riku... I know you feel... guilty, but can't you accept my forgiveness? I mean, I completely forgot about all of that before you brought it up again..."

The silverette looked into his best friend's face and saw that it was true; Sora was telling the truth.

Riku's expression was unreadable for a moment, and then he leaned forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the sleepy boy and hugging him so fiercly that his feet were lifted off of the ground a few inches.

"Sora... you're great, you know that?"

Sora attempted to answer, but the words were muffled since his face was mushed up against Riku's chest. The older teen quickly put him down.

Sora swayed for a moment before looking up at Riku with a confused expression on his face.

"Geez, what's gotten into you, Riku? The mushy bug?" He muttered. Riku grinned and ruffled Sora's unruly bed of spikes.

"The mushy bug, Sora? That's lame even for you," Riku teased, and Sora saw the old glint of mischeviousness in the aquamarine eyes.

Sora frowned and swatted Riku irritably. "Ugh, I'm going back to bed."

"Yeah, yeah... _I'm_ wide awake, you ninny," Riku said. "I am the nocturnal night owl! I'm always up late."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Good _night, _Riku," he said, climbing back through his window and into his warm, snuggly bed.

Riku grinned in spite of himself. Perhaps...perhaps being reunited with his friend did give him the 'mushy bug'. He found that he didn't mind at all.

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**Okay, so... did you like it? Didn't you? **

**Hit the button and REVIEW!!!! Or Simba will come out and eat you!**


	2. Author's Note

**Author's Note!**

**All stories are on hiatus until I graduate my senior year, which will be in two and a half months. I'm extremely sorry for the wait, but I am sure there are many other better stories you guys could be reading by better authors.**

**I won't be giving up on these stories, all of them will be continued--just delayed.**

**Thanks for all your support!**


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